betsy@dartvax.UUCP (Betsy Hanes Perry) (08/06/85)
Robin McKinley, *The Blue Sword* and *The Hero and the Crown*
Tamora Pierce, *Alanna: The First Adventure* & *In the Hand of the Goddess*
Cherry Wilder, *A Princess of the Chameln*
I almost missed most of the above books; my local bookstore shelved all
except one of them in its separate children's section. They're worth
seeking out. All three deal with adolescent female protagonists, but that's
pretty much where the similarity ends.
The McKinley books have received quite a bit of notice; *The Blue Sword*
was a Newbery Honor Book and *The Hero and the Crown* won the Newbery outright.
(For those who don't know, the Newbery is awarded to 'the best children's book
of a given year.' Past winners include A Wrinkle In Time and The Bronze Bow.)
These books are set in Damaria, which is very like Kipling's India.
*The Blue Sword* concerns Angharad (known as Harry) Crewe, an orphan
who has been sent to Damaria to join her brother, an officer in the
Army. Harry is enchanted by the country and its customs, but is frustrated
in her attempts to learn more about the natives. Harry isn't terribly
'ladylike'; she loves to ride and to hunt, but she's terrible at flirting,
the only acceptable pastime for a proper young lady. The other Homelanders
busy themselves with leading the most 'normal' lives they can in an abnormal
place, and there isn't much place in a 'normal' world for Angharad Crewe.
Angharad gets lucky; I won't spoil the plot by saying more than that.
Try the book and see what you think. *The Hero and the Crown* is about
an earlier Damarian hero, Aerin; she shares with Harry the gift/curse
of being unusual at the age and in a society where normality is paramount.
McKinley has an unusually vivid memory for the pains of being an outcast
girl, and unusual gift for creating detailed and convincing characters.
The Pierce books are about Alanna, a girl of noble birth who is being sent off
to a monastery to learn proper feminine behavior. Her twin brother is being
sent off to become a page and learn proper masculine behavior. As it happens,
Alanna's brother is a scholar and Alanna wants to become a warrior. So they
arrange to switch. Alanna, about ten, disguises herself as a boy and rides
off to her fostering; Thom goes off to learn sorcery. (Thom doesn't have
to disguise himself as a girl; apparently the monastery teaches scholars
of both sexes.)
This book doesn't cheat with the issues it raises; Alanna gets into real
scrapes to keep her sex secret. She's not as strong as the boys she trains
with, and she has to work extra hard to make up for it. She's a likable
girl, and the books kept me reading. In both books, I found the endings
a bit obvious, but that's what fairytales are for. I'm looking forward
to seeing what Alanna gets up to after her knighthood.
Wilder's *A Princess of the Chameln* is a remarkable book. Candidly, I have
a hard time imagining the child who would enjoy it; I certainly wouldn't
have enjoyed it at thirteen or fourteen. It's about Aidris am Firn, hereditary
co-ruler of the Chameln. As the book opens, Aidris, ten years old, is
being taken by her father to accept fealty from the outlying tribes.
Three months later both her parents are murdered. Shortly thereafter
an attempt is made on her life and she has to fly. And that's pretty
much the way the book goes. Aidris can afford to trust very few of those
who surround her; her aunt in particular is her enemy.
*A Princess* is a remarkably melancholy and autumnal book. It's about
patience and restraint, not virtues very attractive to the adolescent.
It's a book in which some of the bad guys win; wrongs go unrighted;
good people die. I liked it very much.
The McKinley books are in hardback by Greenwillow Press; the Wilder
and Pierce books are in hardback by Argo. *A Princess of the Chameln*
and *The Blue Sword* have also been issued in paperback recently.
--
Elizabeth Hanes Perry
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